


Beth

by castronomicaaal



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Ghost Beth, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-03
Updated: 2015-04-03
Packaged: 2018-03-21 00:55:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3671541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/castronomicaaal/pseuds/castronomicaaal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Rick wakes up, groggy and disoriented, two things immediately come to mind.</p><p>One being that he feels very sore and very roughed up; something that makes sense considering his previous fight with Pete.</p><p>The other thing, something that doesn’t make any sense at all, sits in the form of Beth Greene by his bedside, holding a wet cloth to his face.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beth

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Where Were You (When the Miracles Stopped)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3614841) by [pancake_potch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pancake_potch/pseuds/pancake_potch). 



> Takes place after the Rick/Pete scuffle at Alexandria. I was very inspired by pancake_potch and her interpretation of the Rick/Jessie dynamic!

When Rick wakes up, groggy and disoriented, two things immediately come to mind.

One being that he feels very sore and very roughed up; something that makes sense considering his previous fight with Pete.

The other thing, something that doesn’t make any sense at all, sits in the form of Beth Greene by his bedside, holding a wet cloth to his face.

“Beth?” He mumbles, voice hoarse. Rick blinks repeatedly, hoping to clear his vision. When he reopens both blue eyes and she’s still sitting there beside him he suddenly feels worried, almost sick to his stomach and unbelievably confused. “You’re alive?”

The blonde takes a moment to laugh, swiping a piece of wet, dark hair from off of his forehead. “I’m not alive silly,” she shakes her head. Suddenly her laughter dissipates, replaced with a somber smile. “I’m still gone.”

Rick is more confused now than he was before. He attempts to sit up, his body aching, and only accepts his fate resting in bed after Beth’s soft hands gently push him back down.

“You have to be careful,” she tells him, fretting as she looks him over. “You got roughed up pretty good earlier. Good thing Michonne was there to knock you back down a peg or two.” Beth’s small grin is back in place afterwards, both of her hands now clasped within her lap, almost as though she is afraid to touch the man before her.

Rick groans, rubbing his hand over the slight stubble along his chin as memories of the fight tumble back. “I made a mistake,” he offers simply, shrugging.

The blonde frowns. “I don’t know what you were thinkin’. You tryin’ to get kicked out? To get Judy and Carl kicked out with you?”

This sobers Rick greatly and he blinks rapidly, looking the girl before him over in full for the first time. It’s only after he spots the dried blood along her forehead, a small hole in the form of a bullet, that he allows his eyes to cloud over with tears.

“Beth,” he whispers, reaching forward. She sighs, biting her lip before closing both eyes and leaning in. He drags his fingertips across the hole slowly, eventually sliding his hand down to cup her face. “Does it hurt?”

She shakes her head. “Never did,” she promises sincerely, both eyes opening back up.

They’re closer now, face to face, and he finds himself mesmerized by just how pure her big blue eyes are.

“I could have done something,” he tells her, frowning. “It didn’t have to end that way.”

Beth sighs sadly, shaking her head. Her hand snakes forward to cup his own, still resting against her pale cheek. “There was nothin’ you could of done, Rick. Nothin’ you could of changed. It happened how it was supposed to happen. It was my time to go. But it’s not yours. If you keep actin’ like this it’s gonna be, even though it’s not your time. Do you hear me? But Judy and Carl still need you, they will always need you.”

He takes a moment to let her words sink in. Eventually he nods, thumb slipping across her cold flesh before passing along her lower lip.

Beth sighs deeply, eyes fluttering as she takes in his touch.

“I need to be here for Carl and Judy,” he whispers back. She nods.

“You’re a good man, Rick. This place is good for you, you can’t see it yet but it is. You gotta do everythin’ you can to protect those two. Fightin’ with Pete isn’t solvin’ anything for you right now. You’re puttin’ yourself and everybody else in danger.”

“But Jessie…she reminds me so much of you.”

Beth nods sadly, eyes downcast. “I know,” she tells him. “I know, Rick. But she’s not me. It’s good you want to help her but you’re not healthy right now, not in the right frame of mind.”

“She’s just so much like you,” he repeats, stumbling over his words. When he meets her gaze she can tell he’s more frazzled now than before and she feels her body tensing sadly, wanting nothing more than to hold him close to her forever and keep him safe.

Both know that she can’t do that.

“I’m not tellin’ you to stop bein’ Rick Grimes,” Beth continues, reaching both of her own hands out to grab his face in her tender grip. “You’re a leader, a man worth standin’ up to fight for, but you gotta be more careful about how you do things around here. Carl and Judy come first, you hear me? If anythin’ you’re thinkin’ of doin’ could ever put them at risk, you don’t do it. And you go to the town meetin’ tonight and you plead your case, show them who the real Rick Grimes is, and they’ll let you stay. They need you here, you just have to make them see it.”

“I need you here,” Rick responds after, his watery eyes finally leaking over as tears cascade down his cheeks, soaking the bandages along his face. “I should have tried harder to save you.”

“Stop it.” Beth frowns, shaking her head sternly. “Seein’ you before it happened that day, that’s all I needed. Feelin’ you pullin’ me into your arms, your lips against my head—remember that. Just remember it, please. Remember the good.”

Rick nods afterwards, body shivering. Ever so slowly Beth bends forward, placing her freezing cold lips against his own.

Their kiss is brief but beautiful and when Rick pulls back she is gone.


End file.
